At Home on Hendrik

We have received the most wonderful gift over the past few days. The granddaughter of the original owners of Hendrik (which was known as Tijdgeest from 1933-1968, then Taling from 1968-1978, then Hendrik from 1978 onwards) got in contact and asked if we’d like to see some old photos of the boat and know more about the history! No overstatement at all – this absolutely made our day. Or week, or frankly, our year. The only things we knew about her past was the three names (and we were always planning on reverting back to the name Tijdgeest, “Spirit of the Age”, once our renovations are complete) and that the previous owners bought her in 1978. And that was about it.

I’ll save the fantastic history writeup for another day (she even translated it for us!!), but here are a few photos I’m sure you’ll enjoy. I know we’ve been pouring over them nonstop since they arrived in our inbox!

Tijdgeest coming out of the boatyard in 1933. The workers are still tidying it up for inspection. Note the original wheelhouse height and the amazing wooden cranes!

Bow of Tijdgeest. Apparently the original colour scheme was cream and black (as she is now!), and later, here, with a grey stripe along the bow. We’d really like to revert to this, including the below typeface when we repaint the superstructure in a few years (it needs it!).

Look at that beautiful 1930s typeface!

A dark and foggy night, not dissimilar to one we had just before Christmas where we couldn’t see the other end of the mooring, let alone Tower Bridge!

A truck on deck, we’re guessing from around WWII due to the blacked-out headlamps.

Tijdgeest on the Ijselmeer.

And finally, loading flour into the cargo hold, near where our master bedroom will be in 6 months’ time (fingers crossed)!